I’m sorry to be the one to tell you, but we’re about to hit the second peak.
There’s a new plague and this time, it’s spreading faster than the Coronavirus and it can’t be contained through social distancing.
The condition? A huge swell in global anxiety.
And it’s not surprising when you think about it - I mean, this entire lockdown / COVID / isolation experience is a global study in anxiety, specifically shared anxiety.
It’s no-one’s fault - it’s human nature. The more we’re pressed inwards, the more we look outwards. For reassurance and guidance. Guidance on everything from what to do, what to say and even how to feel.
We can’t go out, so we spend more time online looking at what other people are doing.
We can’t get a firm grasp on what’s happening in the world, so we treat every piece of news shared from anyone with a Facebook account as gospel.
We’re not sure how we feel, so we ask how other people are feeling, and by osmosis, we start absorbing other people’s experiences and feelings and start reading them as our own.
There’s a strange logic to it, but equally, when you think about it logically, it’s a reach of desperation...
“I have nothing, so I’ll take anything.”
But for most people, the symptoms and ailments of anxiety outlive those of Coronavirus by some margin! And with anxiety peaking (and showing little to no signs of plateauing), we all need to take a minute and ask ourselves;
“What am I really feeling?”
...and...
“is that what I’m feeling, or is that what I’m hearing?”
Then we can all benefit from realising that just because 10 people tell you that they’re feeling frustrated about the lockdown, doesn’t meant that you have to feel frustrated.
If you’re having a good time staying in, keeping your cat company and winning Zoom quiz after Zoom quiz, then you don’t have to feel guilty about it.
Instead, you can accept what you’re feeling and own that experience.
You don’t have to mirror other people’s feelings; you can be a good friend without going through what other people are feeling. This is the empathy vs sympathy divide.
Equally, if the constant buzz of uncertainty and speculation is starting to get you down, you’re totally within your rights to take a break from it.
What I’m saying, is take this time to focus on you, understand what you’re experiencing and take responsibility for your own feelings and your own experiences.
If we all did that, we might avoid the infamous second peak and help a whole lot of people feel a whole lot better.
Just a thought…
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